I don’t understand these cards at all. Which Russian cards actually work in Italy right now? I see a lot of people keep having problems, but someone must be managing to pay — which banks’ cards do they use?
UnionPay Solidarnost (Солидарность) - I withdraw cash at UniCredit, it works fine. At Rinascente I paid with it; the conversion was at a good rate, so in rubles it’s very advantageous. It actually works almost everywhere - even in small cafes, so don’t rush to switch to cash right away.
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Oh, thanks! Is Solidarnost (Солидарность) expensive to maintain? Do you need to travel to Russia in person to register, or can it be done remotely somehow?
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At Solidarnost (Солидарность) they take 1.7% on their side, UniCredit without its commission — so it comes to only 1.7% for withdrawal. But with Rosselkhozbank (РСХБ) UnionPay it’s a different story — I tried in three banks in Milan, Intesa, BPM, BNL — everywhere was refused. So not all UnionPay cards are accepted equally well in Italy.
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Alfa-Bank RB (Альфа банк РБ) — topping up in rubles from Russia with no commission; the ruble–euro exchange is close to the Central Bank rate. Transfers to Italian banks by card number are available. For those in Belarus — it can be arranged there, you don’t need to travel to Russia.
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Belinvest with BNB Euro — you top up rubles at the internal “Mir” rate, and we used the card everywhere in Rome without any problems. The only thing is that when booking online through Booking, hosts sometimes say the card doesn’t work, but that’s an authorization issue before check-in, not a problem with the card at terminals. For Belarusians it’s set up on the spot, you don’t need to go anywhere.
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I tried with a Kyrgyz bank — the card is accepted at terminals, but you can only top it up via SWIFT from Russia; transfers by phone number don’t go through. You also can’t transfer money online from the account to Italy — you have to go to a branch in Kyrgyzstan in person. For living here permanently, that’s really inconvenient.
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The Italian account is a whole other story — you quickly realize you can’t top it up from Russia at all; it’s a dead end. So when you move, it’s worth opening a CIS multi‑currency account right away — that solves both getting money in and paying for things here. That’s exactly what I started with when I moved.
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A Kazakh card worked as a pass-through — I transferred rubles there, then converted them and sent them to an Italian account. But things aren’t simple on the Italian side either — when I tried through UniCredit, they requested such a list of documents for an incoming transfer from the CIS that I realized it was a dead end; it’s easier to find another way.
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As for topping up cards in Italy — there’s no way to load money onto a Russian or Kazakh card here. Not via ATMs, not at bank branches — I checked in several places myself. You either need to bring cash or have a working transfer setup before you move; it’s much harder to arrange afterwards.
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Banks look at the fiscal code (кодиче фискале), not at citizenship — that’s what many overlook. Managers refuse simply out of fear for their jobs; there’s no real directive — it’s talked about everywhere but nobody’s actually seen it. So sometimes it’s worth trying a small test payment — if the bank rejects it, that’s one thing; if it lets it through, that’s a different story.
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Tinkoff UP never worked for me at ATMs in Turin; I tried machines in different parts of the city. With a Russian issuer that’s exactly the issue — the payment system is the same (UP), but the way it’s accepted is completely different. The difference with Solidarnost (Солидарность) isn’t the logo, it’s who issued the card.
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